In what has to be one of the most bizarre uses of HD's renowned penchant for detail ever recorded, the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was officially captured by the Iraqi government with a Sony HDCAM. (This is not to be confused with the relatively crude cell phone video that has been widely distributed on the Internet in recent days.)

According to Newsweek, videographer Ali Al Massedy was barely one yard away from Hussein when he was executed by hanging last weekend.

Holding a Sony HD camera in his right hand, the publication said Ali recalled the dictator's last moments: "He was saying things about injustice, about resistance, about how these guys are terrorists." On the way to the gallows, "Saddam said, 'Iraq without me is nothing,'" according to Ali.

He said the HD video lasts about a quarter of an hour. When Newsweek asked to see a copy, Ali said he had already handed the tape over to an official of the Iraqi government and that it was considered to be "top secret."
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